Oh yes it is.
The more I think about it, what happens at the end of chapter 27 (that's as far as I want to go in pinpointing what exactly it is) may well go down as one of the top ten all-time greatest moments in English literature: right up there with Sherlock Holmes's apparent death at the hands of Moriarty, Sidney Carton at the guillotine and the final showdown with Moby Dick. This might be the first real classic moment of literary drama in the twenty-first century.
This is like the 1980 "Who shot J.R.?" thing all over again: that kind of gripping. 'Course the big question after that episode of Dallas was "Who shot J.R.?" In this case it's not so much a matter of who but WHY did this happen? Theories abound. I don't know which one to believe but if anyone's wondering, you're going to have to highlight this next part to see it 'cuz it's "inviso-texted": SPOILER - highlight to read Dumbledore wasn't pleading for Snape to spare his life... he was pleading with Snape to end it! Keep in mind that Dumbledore is NOT someone who's afraid of death: as far back as Sorceror's Stone he was telling Harry that "for the well-prepared mind death is but the next great adventure" or something. In Order of the Phoenix he tells Voldemort that there are things worse than death and not understanding that has always been Voldemort's greatest weakness. It's like Dumbledore knew that death was finally here and he wasn't going to contest it. But there was something going on there that we don't know yet. I think Dumbledore is definitely dead i.e. he ain't coming back, but I've got a gut feeling that even his own death was part of some larger plan that will fully unfold in Book 7. Hey I called it last week that Dumbledore would die and was right about that, maybe I'm right about this one too :-) END SPOILER. So there it is, set down for the record for later consumption.
So with Half-Blood Prince done, I'm finally going to read Eragon by Christopher Paolini, which several friends have told me is an excellent book. I might file a report on that one later too :-)
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